I was all prepared not to like this guy. I started reading an interview with David Kinnaman, president of the Barna Group, suspecting that I knew what he was going to say. That’s the problem with thinking I know too much is that I miss some really good stuff because I’ve already assumed that they will follow this script I have for them running in my head. Well this guy didn’t. And I am a more thoughtful person for having taken him at his word. He’s recently published a book, UnChristian, detailing the perception of Christianity among 16-29 year olds. The interview began as you (or at least I) might expect, “Christianity is a suffering from a branding issue, yada yada yada.” But I wasn’t expecting this… Read the rest of this entry »

The Star Ledger ran some interesting coverage of the opening of “the Rock” as the Prudential Center has been pre-dubbed. I’m posting this late at night, so I shant write much. But as this is a rather time sensative subject, I wanted to get this up.

Here a link to the cover story just after the opening night.

This article is written about the potential fears of suburbanites heading into Newark.

Finally, a piece on the local residents and business owners around the arena.

Take a look at them and some of the other coverage the event has been getting. And them imagine what it will be like when a God much bigger than Bon Jovi and more precious than a $375 million dollar building redeems Newark and the rest of Essex County. More to come on life in gentrified Jersey and true urban renewal.

Not too long ago I posted a link to the parody of the Mac vs. PC ads: Christian vs. Christ-Follower.  I want to know what you think.  Clicking on the previous link will take you to the youTube stream of the first one.  There are 6 in the series, and you can follow the leads to the rest of them from there.

I blame Jason Robinson. Mostly. And my in-laws, too. And all you other comic book-lovin, let’s-go-to-Jason’s-on-a-Monday-night-at-9 fans of the show. But mostly I blame Jason for my latest addiction. He’s like a pusher. Just ask him if you can get a copy of the first season of the TV show Heroes. His likely response will be “Try the first disk for free, but the next one will cost you… he he he.” It’s the chuckle at the end that really irked me, but I found myself panting at his door, beggin for just one more hit, er disk.

At any rate, it’s not really an addiction so much as it is an obsession. I simply need to know what happens within this intricately woven story line.

Throughout the duration of the series, there is are a couple of stark parallels to the characters and those of us indwelt by the Holy Spirit.

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Rap and hip hop can paint graphic pictures of abuse against women. Women, in return, have begun to own this mistreatment and wield it as a sexual barganing tool, dangled before men in return for bling. Heard it, right? Its a bit played out, even when it’s true. However I have yet to see such a strong indictment of abusive cycle on its own terms. The Black Eyed Peas were once a fairly innovative hip-hop group whose members have eschewed their wit and creativity for very big payoffs (Thank you itunes TV commercial). Last year, they released a song that was a HUGE hit, My Humps. You can still watch Lil John’s remix of the single on YouTube. (Warning it is pretty vulgar, watch at your own discretion.)

Enter Alanis Morissette. She covered the single without the bass or beats. Instead she offeres a stark piano solo and her haunting voice for her take on Fergie and the boys. Her rendition is a poinient indictment of club culture and the striving for physical perfection and sexual manipulation. Watch the video. It’s also pretty vulgar, so if you are offended, minimize the screen and just listen to it play. I encourage you to remember both versions as you realize just how lost “lost” is.

Blogging is not for the faint of heart. Well, actually you can have a faint heart as long as you don’t mind everybody reading about it. But if you’re like me, and like to have everything worked out and every problem solved before you go public with it, then blogging is a bear. Incidently, this is a perpetual sticking point in my marriage. Anglea reminds me to include her in my thought process and problem solving regularly. I’m trying.

I’m also trying to make peace with the fact that quantity (or at least consistancy) matters as much as quality of posts. In light of that, I will try not to publish drivel, but I may bow to the trite and the trivial from time to time. Hey, if 40 million Americans are concerned with Britany Spears custody battles than the bar isn’t really all that high now is it? Just kidding.

While I’m thinking of something profound and perfect to say, why don’t you watch these videos. They are parodies of the genius Mac ads contrasting uber-cool macs to vanilla pc’s. In this series “Christian” and “Christ-follower” duke it out passive aggressive style. They are hillarious, and more profound than my blog has been for a couple a months. There are six in the series. Here is the first. Follow the youtube links to the rest.

More to follow.

As some of you know, Angela and I host a dinner and an open forum on Sunday nights. Many times this group of friends has indulged me and endured the smoke issuing from my fire pit. Simply stated, I like to burn things. I know that this disclosure will prompt a host of arsen jokes and may merit parents keeping their children from visiting as frequently, but it’s true none the less. Most of the time the fire is a way for us to keep the bugs at bay and entertain me, but last week was different. This past Sunday our conversation found its way to the topic of the Holy Spirit. We headed in this direction knowing that Gregorio and Monica are on the way. My hope was to prepare the way for whatever God is going to do in our midst. I was blown away by what God is already doing.

It became clear as the conversation progressed that the Holy Spirit is already working among us in ways that I had not anticipated. There were 10 of us around the fire last Sunday. Within that group some of us had recently experienced physical healing, others had begun to receive words of knowledge or special insight in how to pray for each other. Some felt a “power” surging from their body, or were prompted to dance. A few had heard prophetic promises from the Lord. Some of us admitted we were too analytical to be certain of the Spirit’s prompting but were yearning to listen to God’s heart. It was very clear to us that God is on the move.

In John 16, Jesus tells his disciples that he shall send a Counselor to convince the world of its sin and of God’s righteousness and of the coming judgement. Jesus continues to say that the truth the Spirit brings is what he has heard in the very dwelling of the Most High God. He will also tell us things about the future. He brings glory to Jesus by revealing to us what he receives from Jesus himself. And this is the God who personally interacts with us and invites us to take up residence in his Kingdom!

We felt a little odd talking about our experience with Holy Spirit. Then one of our sisters pointed out “where else would we be able to talk about these things?” It was as if some adolescent super heroes were comparing notes on these strange new abilities their bodies were displaying; not sure how to control them, but giddy that they were not alone. The Spirit of God is alive and well in our midst. We are lacking maturity, consistency and power, but the game is afoot. The Lord is amongst us.

What are your experiences with the supernatural breaking into your everyday?

Yeah, we finished it. It is one among many reasons that the blog has lain dormant for a number of weeks. Angela and I have a bit of a tradition of reading books aloud to each other. You know, grown up bed time stories. And yes, I loved it, but that is not what this entry is about. I’d be happy to talk about the intricacies of wand lore with any of you in a thread stemming from this or any other context. There are perhaps some of you who would rather discuss the evils of the series. I would be happy to discuss Harry as an imperfect Christ figure or the dangers of reading about witchcraft, but that’s not what this post is about, either.

For a number of days, every moment that Angela and I could be together was spent talking about or reading the Deathly Hallows. Anytime we were without children or cell phones or could ignore the dirty dishes, we read. We traveled together. That’s what this post is about. God allowed a husband and a wife, the best of friends, to enjoy each other with childlike simplicity. We had a great time. We probably weren’t the best of parents because we put our kids to bed early and stayed up too late. But Miles and Quintin survived their mild neglect. And I was reminded just how great a friend I have in my wife.

Living life above ground is characterized by noticing the invisible God… For the past number of days I saw his pleasure as I glanced over a copy of the final Harry Potter tome.

One day Jesus was sitting with his disciples on the shore of the sea. He began to instruct them saying, “the Kingdom of Heaven is like a sinking ship. It is overwhelmed by the waves of this world and is taking on water at an alarming rate. Most of the fishermen aboard will not survive. The best they can hope for is to make it to a lifeboat and maybe pull a few other sailors to safety before the waves take them under.”

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Some of you may be curious as to the title of this blog. It’s hardly original. It is a very intentional play on Dostoyevsky’s Notes from Underground. I highly recommend reading this very short book. (Just click on the preceeding link to go to the free e-text.)

In Notes, the central character is not a healthy man. The reader is offered a glimpse into his diary and finds a petty life consumed with status and spite and revenge. He has ingested the ideas of his time, taken them to their logical conclusion, and they have made him ill. OK, so the protagonist of Notes lived in Russia in the mid 1800s. He remains a poinient example of the despair resulting from saturation in a society actively shunning the Cross. He fails to recognize hope, even after sleeping with her. Read the rest of this entry »